RCM Budget Forums to be held on May 22

May 21, 2012From staff reports

Members of the University community will have two opportunities on May 22 to learn about the ongoing development of a Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) budget model. An open forum will be held from 12:10-1 p.m. in Bentley Hall, room 124 and from 4:10-5 p.m. in Bentley Hall, room 124.

In the RCM open forums held in February, faculty and administrators outlined some of the key elements that were being used to construct a budget model. In the forums this week, deans and staff from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost and the Budget Planning Office will focus on the model's structure and incentives. In addition, several areas that are still under development will be discussed.

According to Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit, the primary goals of the model are to fairly align resources with academic activity; to provide incentives for the protection of academic quality and the opportunity for strategic growth; and to promote greater transparency when it comes to revenue and expenditures.

"The purpose of the forums is to gather feedback on how well the structure and incentives in the model meet these goals and on the areas still under consideration," said Benoit.

John Day, associate provost for academic budget and planning, indicated that while there is a current draft of the model, it will not be included in the forums.

"A draft of the model was recently produced but it is still a rough draft. We are not sufficiently confident that we have all of the data accurately represented and aligned," said Day. "The deans and their budget unit managers are carefully sorting through the draft model to help us ensure its accuracy. We anticipate that this vetting will be completed by the end of the summer."

Day added that the University is not slated to begin using its RCM model until fiscal year 2014.

"Once classes resume in the fall, we will present the draft model and engage in further discussion about whether it provides for a fair alignment of resources, encourages academic quality and strategic growth, and creates meaningful transparency."